Panther bowlers qualify for state

Published: Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 10:59 a.m. CST

By SCOTT VICKER
CNA sports editor • svicker@crestonnews.com

LEON — Scores were down across the board here Thursday at the Class 1A State Qualifying Meet, but when the dust settled, the Creston/Orient-Macksburg boys and girls teams both stood victorious, advancing to the State Co-ed Bowling Tournament.

Creston/O-M senior Kenny Wynn also finished with the high two-game series for the day, earning the individual qualifying spot for the boys with his score of 348. Lamoni’s Amber Edwards won the girls’ individual qualifying spot by rolling a 319.

The Creston/O-M boys posted four of the top five individual scores of the tournament, and held on for a 69-pin victory over Clarke for the team title, 2445-2376.

The Panthers held a 78-pin lead over Clarke following round one, and stretched that lead to 90 pins through two games of the Baker Rotation.

Clarke outscored the Panthers by 63 pins in the third game of the Baker Rotation, cutting the lead to 27 pins with two games to go.

“We picked up five pins in game four, but started game five with three straight opens,” head coach Ron Pendegraft said. “Luckily Clarke also started game five with three opens and didn’t gain on us.

“After Chantz picked up a spare in the fourth, Josh and Blake combined for a double in the fifth and sixth, and then Kenny and Chantz put together another double in the eighth and ninth to put it away for us. Our kids and fans really came alive over those final six frames. The noise and support really helped us down the stretch.”

Similar to the boys team, the Creston/O-M girls got out to a good start compared to the other teams in the first round, placing four girls in the top eight.

Madison Hance finished third with a two-game score of 298, while Emily Davidson came in fifth with a score of 281. Anna Wilson totaled a 279 for seventh and Emily Lange bowled a 277 for eighth. Shaylen Kipp added a score of 257 and Devon Eddy finished with a 222.

That gave the Panthers a 91-pin lead after the first round, and the Panthers ended up finishing 179 pins better than second-place Lenox, at 2118-1939.

“Even though our scoring was down 250 pins from our average, I was very pleased that we kept our poise and did not fall apart and give up because of the difficulties with scoring,” Pendegraft said. “So I’m very pleased with our performance and very happy that our group of senior girls have the opportunity to bowl at the state tournament.

“Our scoring average is extremely competitive with all the other teams competing, and it is a real challenge to pick who will come out the winner.”